


Communication and the Forceful Inclusion Thereof

by AetherSprite (AranthianPrincess)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fanfic AU, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Slash, slight crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-17 08:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5862457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AranthianPrincess/pseuds/AetherSprite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Steve notices Tony's odd behavior right off the bat and takes the necessary steps to resolve the issue before it gets out of hand. Tony is not amused. Who knew Captain America could be such an insufferable, stubborn ass?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Communication and the Forceful Inclusion Thereof

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [[ART] Communication and the Lack Thereof](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5327486) by [krusca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/krusca/pseuds/krusca). 



> This is just a little something that popped into my head when I saw krusca's lovely art for my other fic Communication and the Lack Thereof. Then a frankly insane amount of feedback started pouring in (seriously, Lack Thereof has far surpassed my former most popular fic in feedback and not a day goes by when I don't get an e-mail with more kudos for it) so I decided to go ahead and write this as a thank you to everyone who read, commented, and/or left kudos. All your support and gratitude has been a little overwhelming, but in the absolute best way. Thank you.
> 
> This also doubles as a fill for the 'free space' on my bingo card. BINGO!

This new mark on his body was driving Steve crazy with wondering what it was and how it had gotten there. He knew it hadn't been there earlier in the day, before the Avengers had assembled for the first time to take on Loki and his Chitauri army. Now he was staring at a small, ink black raindrop turned on it's side. Bolts of lightning shot out from the point as it arrowed towards the center of his chest. In the round part a circle enclosed a five-pointed star, reminding him uncomfortably of his shield. This tattoo – for lack of a better word – seemed too deliberate to have been the product of some random... something, but Steve knew he would have noticed someone etching something this personal on his chest.

“Someone has to know what this is,” Steve muttered to himself. _And I know just who to go to._

He made his way quickly down to Tony Stark's workshop, remembering that Howard's son and the man who had offered the Avengers a place to stay after the battle had been sure to tell him to just ask if he needed anything. Somehow, Steve didn't think their host had had this kind of thing in mind. He shrugged to himself and stopped at a firmly shut glass door, wondering if he should knock or not. It didn't look like anyone was inside from what he could see.

“May I help you, Captain?”

Steve jumped at the sound of the disembodied voice and looked around to see if he could figure out where it came from. He didn't see anything obvious so it must be something Stark had invented. Steve decided to just answer and see where that got him.

“I'd like to see Mr. Stark if he's not busy,” Steve said.

“One moment, Captain.” There were a few moments of silence before the voice was back. “Please enter, Captain. Sir will be with you in just a moment.”

“Thank you.”

Steve did as requested, taking a few steps inside the workshop and stopping. He looked around in a mixture of awe and wariness, wanting to touch and examine but not sure if anything was too dangerous or delicate to handle. Luckily, Stark appeared from a back room before Steve's curiosity got the better of him.

“What can I do for ya, Cap?” Stark said as he appeared, looking a little rumpled.

“You said to ask if I needed anything,” Steve said.

Stark raised an eyebrow. “Need more towels or something?” He snarked.

“No,” Steve frowned, reconsidering his decision to ask Stark about his mysterious mark. “This was probably a bad idea.”

“You might as well come out with it,” Stark said, spreading his arms wide. “You're here now. No need to waste the trip.”

Steve debated the pros and cons with himself for a minute before shrugging and pulling his shirt over his head. It hung limply from a relaxed fist as he stood tall. He forced a determined look onto his face so that he wouldn't blush obviously as he stood half naked in front of Tony Stark. For what it was worth, Stark didn't look any more comfortable with it than Steve did.

“I was wondering if you knew what this was,” Steve asked, gesturing to his chest.

Stark stared for a crazily uncomfortable moment, brow furrowed, before shaking himself out of whatever trance he had fallen into and focusing on the mark. Steve didn't know what to make of that reaction, so he decided to ignore it for the time being. Stark took a step closer, presumably to get a better look, but Steve had to bring all his willpower to bear to keep himself from taking a matching step back. Finally, Stark seemed to have looked his fill and spoke again.

“I've never seen anything like it,” Stark said, but Steve saw his hand twitch just before he put it behind his back. He was hiding something.

Stark kept talking, turning away to wander toward a workbench, but Steve ignored the endless stream of words. Instead, he reached out and grabbed Stark by the arm, hauling him to a stop and back around to face him.

“What the hell, Rogers?!” Stark said, outraged.

“You're pants are on fire, Stark,” Steve said.

“What?”

“You're hiding something from me and I'm not letting you go until you tell me what it is.”

Stark scoffed. “What are you going to do? Sit on me until I talk?”

Steve allowed a smirk to form on his face. “If I have to.”

“Well, I'm not talking,” Stark insisted, trying to pull free of Steve's grip and failing.

“Fine.”

Steve tucked a foot behind one of Stark's and knocked him off balance, taking the other man to the floor in one swift move. Stark ended up on his stomach, one arm pinned behind his back by Steve as the super soldier quite literally sat on him.

“Are you kidding me?” Stark shouted. “This is ridiculous! Get off me!”

“Not until you tell me what you're hiding,” Steve said, releasing Stark's arm and putting his shirt back on. If he was going to be sitting here awhile, he would rather not be half naked.

Stark continued to struggle, but he couldn't get quite the right angle or leverage to do anything about his situation. “Dammit, Rogers! I'm not telling you anything, so you might as well get off me.”

“Fine,” Steve said.

“Fine,” Stark grumbled back.

~*~*~ Three Days Later ~*~*~

Tony was still laying on the floor of his own workshop with a two hundred plus pound super soldier sitting on his back. This had gotten old two days and twenty-three hours ago. Steve – and they were on a first name basis now because there was literally nothing else to do but chit chat when someone is sitting on you for days on end – was a stubborn ass. He absolutely refused to move an inch, but he continued to insist Tony was hiding something from him. And, alright, he was, but that was beside the point. Just in case, he had made sure not to wriggle around too much and accidentally reveal his own mark, so similar to Steve's.

“Come on, Steve. I'm hungry. And if I'm hungry, you've got to be starving,” Tony tried. “Let's go get something to eat. Whaddaya say?”

“I say that we're not leaving this spot until you tell me what it is you're hiding,” Steve said.

“Damn stubborn, aren't you?” Tony grumbled. He could tell Steve was grinning by his voice when he answered.

“That's what they tell me.”

“Fine. If you're going to be so damn insistent about it, I'll tell you.”

“About time,” Steve said.

“The mark are you chest? It's a Soul Mate mark,” Tony explained.

“A what?”

“A Soul Mate mark. It appears when you touch your Soul Mate for the first time, or so they say. Usually the mark appears at the point of contact, but sometimes it can be in a different spot if the touch is deliberate. My guess is that's what happened in your case. Unless you somehow accidentally touched your Soul Mate with your bare chest,” Tony said. He could feel his body tensing involuntarily. Fortunately, Steve didn't seem to notice.

“But I didn't touch anyone today,” Steve protested.

Tony arched an eyebrow even though Steve couldn't see it. “Are you sure about that, Steve?”

“I don't know. But even if I did touch my Soul Mate, what does that even mean?”

“According to the stories, Soul Mates are meant to be the other half of your soul. They will love you no matter what and you'll never be alone. They'll be there for you. Forever.”

“You know an awful lot about this Soul Mate thing, Tony,” Steve said. Tony could hear the suspicion in his voice.

“Yeah, well, my mother used to tell me the story when I was a kid,” Tony said, shrugging as best he could from the ground.

“Alright, but how do I find this Soul Mate? It doesn't seem right to just leave whoever it is out there wondering what's going on,” Steve said and Tony sighed.

“Man, you really are a great guy, you know that, Steve?” Tony said.

“What does that mean?”

Tony twisted around the best he could, presenting his right side to Steve, and lifted his shirt. “This is what it means.”

“Tony? What is that?” Steve asked shakily.

“It's my Soul Mate mark. Just appeared today.”

“Today?”

“Yeah. On the Helicarrier. Right before Barton attacked,” Tony said.

“The Helicarrier?” Steve did not sound good. Tony frowned, wondering about how badly he seemed to be taking this news. It was worse than he'd originally feared.

“I'm the one you touched, Steve,” Tony said as gently as he could manage. He had to stop himself from reaching out to lay a comforting hand on Steve's arm. It probably wouldn't be welcome right now.

“You– you're my Soul Mate?” Steve said weakly.

“Guilty as charged,” Tony admitted.

“Why didn't you tell me?”

Tony raised his eyebrow again. “Maybe because I was afraid you'd react like this?”

That seemed to shake Steve out of his shock and he focused on Tony again. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to react so badly.”

He finally climbed off Tony and stood, helping Tony to his feet. Tony accepted the offered hand and pulled himself upright with a groan, stretching stiff muscles. “Ah! That's better.”

“Tony?”

“What is it, Steve”

“Why did you really hide the truth from me?” Steve asked, and, damn, the man was too perceptive for Tony's own good. He looked away.

“Some things are better left unsaid,” he said quietly.

“Tony.”

“Steve.”

“Please, Tony,” Steve pleaded, grabbing Tony by the arm for the second time since this whole mess started. “You said Soul Mates were supposed to be there for each other. To love each other no matter what. The other half of each other's souls.”

“Stop, Steve. Those are just stories,” Tony said, but he didn't pull away.

“Are they, Tony?” Steve challenged. “Because I think they mean something. If the marks are real, then the stories must have some truth to them. Please, just give me a chance.”

“It's not you I'm worried about, Steve.”

Tony saw Steve frown out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't have time to dwell on it because Steve was tugging him back around and into a well-muscled chest. “Then give yourself a chance,” he said. And they were too close, way too close.

“Steve, please, I can't,” Tony tried.

“You can. I have faith in you. Please, Tony? For me?”

Damn Steve Rogers and those huge, innocent blue eyes of his. Tony would do anything for him.

“Alright, Steve. Let's give it a shot,” Tony relented, relaxing into a smiling Steve.

“Good. Now, time to eat!” Steve declared. Tony couldn't contain his snort of laughter.


End file.
